Irish start-up OxyMem shortlisted for world energy award

Energy efficiency company OxyMem has been shortlisted for the Platts Global Energy Awards for its work on waste water treatment. OxyMem is the only Irish company among 26 other international entries.

Co-founded by Prof Eoin Casey and Dr Eoin Syron as spin-out from University College Dublin (UCD)’s School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, their process of waste-water aeration uses gas permeable membranes capable of delivering oxygen directly to the bacteria, resulting in a four-fold saving in energy.

For the Platts Global Energy Awards, OxyMem has been shortlisted for the Leading Technology Award in the Sustainable Innovation category, having been whittled down from more than 250 applicants across six continents.

All that’s left for the company is to go before a panel of judges made up of former OPEC energy ministers, national regulators, former heads of major energy companies, academics and legislators.

This year has proven rather successful for OxyMem. Earlier this year, the company won the overall Innovation of the Year Award at the 2014 Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation Awards, as well as the Water Innovation SME Award in Europe for Membrane Technologies.

“It is always humbling to be nominated for an award, but being nominated on a global stage is outstanding,” Wayne Byrne, OxyMem’s managing director, said of the Platts Global Energy Awards.

“(Being shortlisted) endorses OxyMem as a global innovative solution for one of the largest energy-consuming industries in the world.”